Knight proposed to speedskater Brittany Bowe on Feb. 18
Brittany Bowe/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Hilary Knight’s hockey teammates tell PEOPLE how they learned of her engagement to speedskater Brittany Bowe
- Taylor Heise says she and her teammates found out through social media
- “Everyone in the locker room went absolutely berserk,” says Heise
Hilary Knight likes to save her most attention-grabbing moments for the ice.
The Team USA women’s hockey captain proposed to girlfriend Brittany Bowe shortly before helping her team win gold in an exciting overtime match against Canada — and kept it a secret.
Forward Tayor Heise tells PEOPLE that she and the rest of her teammates learned about Knight’s engagement via social media, inspiring an impromptu locker room celebration.
“We were in the locker room and she went and had a meeting with our coach, but must’ve posted it right then and no one had seen it, and all of a sudden someone pulls out their phone and goes, ‘Oh my god, Hilary’s engaged!’ ” Heise recalls. “Everyone in the locker room went absolutely berserk.”
Heise, 25, says that upon learning the happy news, everyone tried to track down Knight, who eventually came to the locker room and was on the receiving end of many a hug.
Gregory Shamus/Getty
“Everyone got to give her a hug and there’s just tears everywhere,” she says. “She deserves the world, so we love her and we love Britt.”
Forward Hannah Bilka describes the whole thing as “so nonchalant,” and says Knight, 36, popped the question to Olympic speedskater Bowe, 37, right before practice.
“To be able to share that moment with her, [I’m] just really excited for them,” says Bilka. “I don’t know how long she’s been planning that, but [she] kind of just doesn’t make a huge deal of it even though we all made a huge deal of it for her. [She’s a] pretty low-key person.”
Adds forward Abbey Murphy: “[They’re] two incredible humans that deserve [this] more than anything. The way we found out [was] a little interesting, but we know Hilary, she’s a secretive lady.”
Knight and Bowe announced their engagement on Instagram on Feb. 18 with a post that featured a sweet video of Knight getting down on one knee.
Hilary Knight/Instagram
“Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever,” Knight captioned the post.
Knight — who became Team USA’s all-time women’s Olympic goal scorer in the gold medal game — and Bowe met at the 2022 Winter Olympics, with Bowe telling PEOPLE in January that meeting her future wife was “the biggest win” to come out of Beijing.
Because the Games were happening amid COVID restrictions, the pair’s first date was a masked walk around the Olympic Village.
“[It was] a very unique way to meet someone, but it was also kind of cool because we felt like we were in this bubble,” Bowe recalled. “We didn't have the family, the friends, no outside distractions. And we really had a lot of time just to get to know each other.”
Knight is set to serve as the U.S.’s flag bearer in the Olympics closing ceremony in Verona on Feb. 22 alongside ice dancer Evan Bates. Bowe, meanwhile, finished her Games with fourth-place finishes in all three of her speedskating events. Both have stated this will be their final Olympics.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
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